


Sometimes the Greatest Moments are Unplanned

by Vampykitty_kun



Series: Without Expectations [3]
Category: Batman (Comics), DCU - Comicverse, Robin (Comics)
Genre: Aggravated assault, Alternate Universe, Beating, Blood, Cold Weather, Crime Fighting, Crimes & Criminals, Cuddling & Snuggling, Gift Giving, Gotham City Police Department, Homelessness, Hotels, Implied Sexual Content, Implied Underage, M/M, Major Character Injury, Prostitution, Robins and Crowbars, Sexual Assault, Stalking, Street Fights
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-25
Updated: 2012-12-25
Packaged: 2017-11-22 10:43:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/608959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vampykitty_kun/pseuds/Vampykitty_kun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jason gets into a rough situation, but thankfully he is able to handle his own. However, that doesn't stop Tim from being torn up about the situation, nor does it stop him from playing nursemaid in the aftermath, even if none of this was planned. Tim wants nothing more than to take Jason away from it all just to keep him safe, even if it's impractical, and Batman would never allow this to go on if he knew.</p><p>He'll settle for one night.</p><p>***Will not make sense without parts 1-2.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sometimes the Greatest Moments are Unplanned

**Author's Note:**

> Well, despite earlier installments being nice short little one-shots, this one quickly became a monster! It's not something to expect from future parts though, unless by chance another one goes on far longer than planned. I never know how long these will end up until I'm actually in the process of typing out the scenes in my brain.
> 
> This is not a Christmas fic, but there's some gift giving all the same, so it's an appropriate fic to post for today
> 
> Hope this is as enjoyable to read as it was to write!

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Tim knew that he shouldn't, that what he was doing was extraordinarily risky, and that if Batman got word (or sight) of the situation, he would end up off duty working the cave, and that he would be forbidden to continue his association with Jason. But Tim had always been a risk taker when it came to people he cared about, even if practically strangers, even if he was not quite sure _why_ he cared as much as he did.

He made a point of checking in on Jason nightly, even if it meant staying out later than necessary. He did not meet him face to face often, only on rare occasions, but nearly every other night he left small gifts of food up on that fire escape. All he had needed to do to alert the older teen to its presence was be louder than typical when touching down on the rusted metal platform. After the first few times, Jason had gotten the idea, and anytime a metallic thunk sounded from that general direction, Jason rounded the corner and climbed up for his meal.

Tim felt it was the least he could do, making sure the teen at the bare minimum had food coming to him multiple times a week, in case he was unable to provide for himself certain nights. The older teen had been on his own for a long time now, both parents having died years ago, according to his research. He would love to be able to sit and talk with him from time to time, to know exactly how Jason was doing, and if he was managing alright, but to do so other than when necessary would risk Batman becoming aware of his new hobby.

Tim was willing to pick his battles.

Tonight however, he had a different sort of gift to present to the boy, one that would require a face to face confrontation, which he certainly did not mind. This particular gift had taken a few weeks to put together, between his school and night schedule, and the inability to consult Alfred on the matter. But it was ready, and he could only hope it was appreciated.

Tonight was one of those late run nights, a Wednesday. Tim had noticed after a while that Wednesdays were always 'slow', and Jason was almost always hunched over himself staring blankly at the street waiting for something that more times than not wouldn't come. So chances were, the teen had the time to spare. He made a quick food run, earning the odd stares and occasional smiles from the shop's employees and customers like always. Only in Gotham would fast food be available at all hours of the night, and have vigilante's standing in line in full gear.

When he touched down on the rooftop across the street from Jason's usual location, he was surprised to see that no one was there. Disappointment set in rather quickly, much to his shock, and he mentally scolded himself as it was something that he should not allow to faze him. With a sigh, he leaned back against the building's inactive coolant system, and allowed himself to slump to the floor. He was tired, sore, hungry, and thoroughly miffed about being unable to get his gift to the other boy tonight. Mixed emotions surrounded that idea. On one hand he knew Jason was likely warm instead of out under dressed in the low temperature, possibly fed, and at the very least he would walk away from the night with money in his pocket. On the other, Tim knew that whatever Jason was up to was surely illegal, regardless of what 'job' had his attention on this particular night, which put him in danger no matter how you looked at the situation.

Tim knew that he should have simply left and gone home the moment he had seen that Jason was not there. That the extra bit of sleep would not have hurt him, food could be refrigerated and microwaved, and that there would always be other chances to meet up, feed him, and give him his gift.

He was glad he had chosen to sulk instead.

Tim had been just about ready to pull himself back up on his feet when the gunshots rang out, sounding from within the alleyway the two boys frequented. Stunned out of his poor mood immediately, Tim launched himself over the edge of the building and dropped into the empty street, batarang in hand as he bolted head-on toward the alley entrance.

He did not make it that far.

Jason came staggering out of the shadows, bracing himself against the stone walls with one hand, a crowbar dangling from the other. Tim watched as the boy let out a feral snarl and whipped the bar away from him, clattering down the sidewalk.

Jason stopped in his tracks abruptly as he caught sight of Tim, seemingly unsure about how to progress. The older teen was intact, but worse for wear, and Tim began to immediately catalog all visible injuries as he approached the boy, noting at once that bullet wounds were not among them.

"Are you alright?"

Tim winced as soon as the words left his mouth, sounding far sterner and demanding than he intended, as Jason flinched and stayed tense thereafter.

Jason was a mess. His hair was strung out and sticky above his left ear, a small but steady stream of crimson running down his jawline. His lower lip was split to the right, painting his mouth and chin with even more blood that spotted and stained the dark grey t-shirt he was wearing tonight. The shirt's collar was torn, and Tim could see the mottled bruising already beginning to form up and down the length of his neck. Jason had stumbled out of the alley with a limp, and although Tim could not see what damage had been done to the teen's legs, he held back a snarl of his own as he realized not only just how low on the hips Jason's jeans were, but that they no longer had a button and the zipper was surely busted.

He drew in a long shaky breath, and readied his voice, careful to not sound as harsh as he had just moment earlier before opening his mouth.

"You were attacked?

Jason snorted, eyes trained on the ground.

"Not the first time, prob'ly not the last." He muttered.

"The assailants?" Tim pressed.

At this, Jason turned his head back towards the alley and shrugged.

"Knocked the fuck out with the shit kicked outta their scumbag asses…" When this seemed to surprise Tim, he chuckled darkly. "Told ya when we had our first heart to heart. Anyone tries to fuck me up, I give it right back at them, twice as hard."

Tim gave a single nod, and followed the boy's gaze.

"Shots fired?"

"Fucking idiots. Too many people in too small of a place. Didn't even see the piece until the one pulled it outta nowhere when I got ahold of the crowbar from dumbass number two and tried to bash his head in with it. Instead of his head, went for the gun hand instead. Shot hit the wall. Second shot I dodged, almost too late, despite my knee feelin' like a damned elephant sat on it. Close enough anyway…" He shuddered. "That one clipped the third guy, the big one, in the shoulder when I dove out of the way. Kicked it outta his hand afterwards, and his face got acquainted with my fist before he said hello the crowbar. Similar situation for the other two."

Tim stepped past him, leaving him at the curb as he entered the alleyway. Sure enough, three men lay crumpled on the ground, unconscious. He pulled out his zip strips, and secured their hands behind their backs. Jason hobbled into the entry way, putting his weight against the wall as he watched Tim finish up and pull out a phone, calling in a pick-up with Gordon.

The sirens sounded only moments after Tim slipped the phone back into his utility belt, and Jason took that as his cue to make himself scarce. His attempt to climb and launch himself up onto the fire escape was immediately thwarted though as Tim firmly grasped his arm and tugged, urging him to face him.

"Try that, and you will only hurt yourself more, and we don't need that. Let me."

Jason opened his mouth to protest, only to shut it once more as Tim tightly wrapped an arm around his waist. He was not given any time to comment before Tim had the grapple gun drawn, and was launching it up to the roof. He hissed as he was hefted up into the air, landing just moments after his feet left the ground. As Tim turned to leap back to the ground below, he paused, regarding him carefully.

"Ribs?"

"Fuck yeah…" he grunted, wrapping an arm around himself while steadying his footing.

"Stay here, don't move, and be silent. I'll be with you again shortly; I'll have to take care of this first, unavoidable."

Tim dropped down just as the squad cars rolled up. The officers exited the vehicles without hesitation and approached the three unconscious men lying on the ground. They hauled them to the squad cars one by one securing them within the vehicles before moving to converse with Robin.

"What's the deal this time kid?"

Tim tilted his head slightly and frowned, hastily putting an explanation together in his head.

"To my understanding Sir, all three are guilty of aggravated assault, assault with a deadly weapon, and potentially an attempted robbery. As you can see it did not go well for them. The victim managed to fend them off and disarm them just as I arrived. He vacated the premises while I was typing them up. Shots fired. One slug in the wall there, gunshot wound to the one man's shoulder courtesy of one of his own men. Hand gun is lying a few feet away from where they were laying."

Tim watched as one of the officers walked past him to retrieve the gun, and another began fishing the slug out of the stone wall. Afterwards, without a thank you, good job, or nod in his direction, the officers returned to their vehicles and pulled away. Tim rounded the corner and watched after them until they turned the corner, where he then made his way over to the earlier discarded crowbar and wiped it clear of prints before slinging it over his shoulder and shooting his grapple back up towards the roof.

Jason looked even more of a mess, much of the front of his shirt stained crimson now, head injuries always heavy bleeders. He sat slumped against the rooftop door of the hotel, arm still wrapped around his middle. He looked up as Tim approached him, still tense and on guard, even as he crouched down before him.

"Never said nothin' about a robbery…" He muttered shakily.

Tim sighed.

"Well, I had to give motive for the assault, and I figured you would be unwilling for them to take your statement, go to the hospital, or attend a court date, so attempted robbery with the victim fleeing the scene it was." He murmured, pulling a light from his belt, and shining it in the teen's eyes. "You're lucky, no concussion. Must have clipped you at just the right angle."

Jason snorted, and winced as Tim prodded his head.

Tim paused and stared at the older teen, chewing on his lower lip as he rocked back on his heels, clearly battling his thoughts out in his head. Jason watched him wearily, and flinched when he let out a ragged sigh.

"Stay."

Without explanation, Tim launched himself off the roof and back across the street, and then made his way down the block traveling by rooftop.

He returned several minutes later, a duffle bag in hand, and tossed it to the ground. Much to Jason's surprise, Tim unlatched his cape, letting it crumple to the ground in a heap, and proceeded to carefully remove his utility belt, and the rest of his costume thereafter until he was standing before him clad only in boxer-briefs and his domino and shivering.

"Not that I don't appreciate the view Bird-boy, 'cause damn, but the fuck are you doing?" the corners up his mouth twitched slightly, causing him to wince when his lip throbbed as he looked the younger boy over.

Tim shot him a glare through his lenses, and reached down, pulling clothes out of the duffle bag. He pulled jeans up over his legs quickly, slipped a plain t-shirt over his head, and jammed a hooded sweatshirt over himself before facing away from Jason and carefully prying the mask from his face. When he turned back around, a simple pair of black sun glasses had replaced it. Afterwards, Tim returned the utility belt to his waist, and pulled the bottom of his hoodie over it.

"Well, this is different." Jason chuckled, regretting it when his side jolted.

"Stay here, won't be much longer."

"You keep saying 'stay', like I could get up and off of here on my own even if I wanted to. Seriously. Don't know what the hell you're doing, but chill. I'll be here."

He watched as Tim gave a quick, curt nod, before gathering up his discarded costume and shoving it none too neatly into the duffle. He slung the bag over his shoulder, retrieved two other bags that Jason had not even noticed up until now, and dropped down off the edge of the roof hopping down the fire escape. Jason sat with his eyes closed, breathing steady as he waited for the boy to return.

Nearly twenty minutes went by, agonizingly slow, before a knock sounded behind him, startling him out of his thoughts. With a grunt, he scooted away from the door, and it opened slowly, revealing Tim behind it.

"…huh?"

Tim gave a small smile, and offered a hand to him. Jason stared at him for a long moment, wishing that he had forgone the sunglasses so the other boy wasn't so damn puzzling, before he reached up and clasped his hand. Tim hauled him up gently, letting him lean against the door way briefly before slipping an arm around his waist once more and helping him inside. He shuddered as the heat coasted over his body, and Tim walked him slowly down the stairwell. He supposed that he should not have genuinely been surprised when the boy pulled a keycard from his pocket, and opened the door to a suite.

Tim locked the door behind them and immediately pulled him to the bathroom, setting him down gently on the closed lid of the toilet before he began rummaging through the belt. Tim turned the sink on, and grabbed a washcloth off the shelf, wetting it before gently prodding at Jason's head once again. The boy's frown quickly grew as he washed the wound, stopping briefly whenever Jason winced.

"You're going to need stitches-" he paused, gripping Jason's arm as the teen opened his mouth to protest. "I'm not carrying anything to numb, but I can do them pretty neatly. Comes with the job."

"Sure… why the hell not." He grunted, watching as Tim pulled out a packaged curved needle and thread, and hesitated briefly before he sunk it into his flesh.

Jason flinched, and grabbed ahold of Tim's thigh with one hand and the sink with the other as the needle poked in and out of his skin, and Tim tied the strands off. His eyes were burning by the time the boy finished, admittedly much faster than he had expected, and he breathed in shakily as Tim rubbed an alcohol pad against the closure.

"How bad?" he groaned, leaning back against the tank.

"Seven. Could have been worse. Much worse." He murmured, cupping the right side of Jason's face as he brought the pad up to his split lip next.

Jason sighed and let his muscles relax some.

"You're a piece of work, you know that?" He chuckled, tonguing at the small slit when Tim finally pulled away. "Never know what's going through your birdy brain."

"I'm… not following." Tim blinked, tilting his head slightly.

"Most people would have never bothered with me. But here we are."

"I'm not most people."

"No, you're not."

Tim grinned for the first time since their fiasco started, and gently sliced through the bloodstained t-shirt with a small pocket knife, searching for further injuries beneath it. A large area over his left ribs was purpling angrily, but past that, his torso was relative unscathed. He pressed against the ribs gently, earning a hiss from the other boy, but nodded approvingly.

"Looks like you just away with just some heavy bruising, nothing is broken. There is a possibility that is cracked that I can't feel, but if there is it's very minor."

"Mmm."

Tim crouched down and untied the ragged sneakers, tossing them to the side, before he slowly tugged the worn and thin jeans down his legs. At this, Jason gave a lewd grin.

"Why Robin, if you wanted to get me naked, all you need is ask."

At this, Tim sputtered, cheeks flushing madly.

"T-That's not-"

"Relax Baby-bird. Just lucky I wasn't freeballing today. No need to ruffle your feathers."

Tim pressed his lips into a thin line, and examined Jason's knee, ignoring smirk on the other boy's face.

"Looks like the worse you came away with tonight was the head wound. For the most part you just have heavy bruising and some scratches. In a few days you should be feeling alright." He pressed a thumb against a particularly dark blotch on Jason's throat and grimaced. "Do you- do you want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

Tim sighed and stood slowly, offering a hand to the other boy once again. Jason took hold of it without any hesitation and pulled himself upright, bracing himself on Tim's shoulder as they left the confines of the bathroom. Tim deposited him on the large bed, helping him pull his feet up before crossing over to the earlier discarded bags, ignoring Jason's trademark Cheshire grin as he passed.

"You can put these on. I was planning on giving them to you under less dire circumstances, but well…" he laughed awkwardly, and tossed a large bag of clothes at him.

"Sweet." Jason chuckled, pulling a pair of new, thick denim jeans from the bag up onto his legs and over his hips.

They fit perfectly, the younger boy had miraculously been able to guess his size, and it amused him. He slid the tight black turtle neck he unfolded from within right over his head, wincing slightly as the collar brushed gently over his new stitches. A nice pair of thick socks came next, and he gladly stripped off his own replacing them. The next and final item had him looking up at Tim in question as he unearthed it from within.

"That one you can leave off for now." Tim smiled warmly, watching his expression.

Jason raised his eyebrows, and pulled it on all the same.

"Dude… seriously, this had to cost a small fortune. It's real, I can smell it!" He gasped, pulling the brown leather collar of the jacket up over his cheeks, inhaling the natural scent.

"It's… honestly not a big deal. I have the money to spare. Batman pays well." He chuckled lightly, moving to stand in front of Jason. "That's not even the best part."

Tim reached forward, grasping the collar, and gently squeezed the edge. Immediately, warmth began to spread through the seams, just like it had with Robin's cape.

"I-…wow. Just wow." He murmured, reaching up to press the switch himself, stopping the flow of heat.

"There is an internal pocket with a charge cord. Half hour plugged in will give you eight hours of power. I'm not sure how often you are near a socket, but I'm sure you have to be somewhere with power at some point during the day, right? Or should I look into an alternative power source?"

"No, no this is… great. Seriously. Won't let it outta my sight."

"I thought it would go with anything you might wear, so it would not look out of place. You always look so cold, and winter _is_ closing in fast. I can't always be there lending my cape." He smiled weakly, watching Jason conflicted over whether or not to keep the jacket on even in the warmth of the room, or set it up for the time being.

In the end, Jason nodded mutely, and slipped the brown jacket over the desk chair next to the bed.

Tim took that as the chance to slip away once more, and Jason followed his movement with his eyes. He disappeared around the corner, and the older teen raised an eye brow as a microwave started up before nodding to himself knowingly.

Of course he would have come bearing food as well.

Tim returned to the bed a few minutes later, not only with two containers of food in hand, but the domino back in place upon his face.

"Really can't ditch the eyewear huh?" he asked, happily taking the contained offered to him, which to his pleasure contained a rather thick, overstuffed cheese burger.

Tim slumped his shoulders at that and sadly shook his head.

"Afraid not." He murmured. "It's not that I don't trust you, or that I would not want to, it's just…"

"The rules?"

"Yes."

"Mmm. Names as well?"

"I- yes… I'm sorry."

At this Jason laughed.

"No problem. To be honest, I don't get names very often from anyone. But I've gotten quite good at nicknames. I've got tons of them for you, sure you've noticed, you'll just have to deal with them by default." He smirked.

Tim only sighed.

"Yeah… I guess so."

They sat in silence as they ate their meals, Jason ever so often glancing up at Tim as he stared absent mindedly at his food. The older teen was squirming by the time the food was gone, and Tim stood up to take away the trash. Upon his return, Tim slipped himself into the desk chair, pulling his knees up against his chest.

"So…" Jason started, finally breaking the silence. "What now?"

Tim met his gaze, forehead crinkled in what appeared to be stress.

"I- this was not planned…"

"I gathered that." He smirked, leaning back up against the pillows, eyeing the younger boy. "Ya know, I wouldn't be opposed to-"

"NO!" Tim exclaimed, flabbergasted, letting his feet drop back to the floor as he stared at Jason with wide eyes. "No-just no. That is not why I did all of this! I… I don't want you to think that. I do what I do without expectations, I'm not asking for anything in return, I just… want you to be okay. "He ended in a whisper.

The awkward silenced returned afterwards, until Jason snorted with laughter.

"Wow _Robin_. Goes to show where your mind is. I was only going to suggest that we watch movie." He smirked. "In bed."

Tim let out a frustrated whine.

"I was being serious…"

Jason's face softened, and he grabbed the remote off the side table, patting the space beside him.

"Yeah… I know. Thank you."

In the end, Tim did in fact join Jason on the queen sized bed, where they watched the latest action flick until sunrise. Eventually, both boys nodded off, television on in the background, huddled up against one another.

Later on both had their own personal realizations.

Tim had never once stayed out all night without anyone knowing where he was or what he was doing.

Jason had never once woken up in someone's arms.

Neither boy was complaining.


End file.
